Making the Grade
Making the Grade is the twentieth episode of season two. Synopsis Charles Darwin's report cards are nonsense. Plot It's Report Card Day at Charles Darwin Middle School, and all of the students are receiving their report cards, including Adam Lyon, with this being his first ever CDMS-report card. Adam's really nervous, and his best friend, Jake Spidermonkey, doesn't get why Adam would be nervous. Adam explains that while he may have worked hard over the course of the semester, he could've easily failed all of his classes, with him being a human at an all-animal school. However, Adam's surprised when he pulls out his report card to see his grades: turns out that they don't give out actual letter grades at CDMS, but rather, generic positive symbols (which, according to Principal Pixiefrog, also help avoid lawsuits). Adam points out to Jake and two of their other best friends, Windsor Gorilla and Slips Python, that since all the school does is give the students generic positive symbols no matter how they do in class, there's really no point in actually trying ("We could sleep through all of our classes, and we'd still get pickles and rainbows," Adam complains). For the next month, all of the students (and even Coach Gills and her assistant, Coach Ferret) sleep through the entire school day. Principal Pixiefrog calls Adam to his office, and Adam explains to the principal what he had explained to his friends on the last report card day. Principal Pixiefrog then decides to change to the traditional letter grades instead of the generic positive symbols. However, this is ends up having terrifyingly bad results, as the students at CDMS single out the "smart" students, who they deem as a "threat." The school launches into total anarchy, and Adam, also singled out as one of the "smart students," ends up trapped with the Spiffies. Adam and the Spiffies try to escape, with Adam even taking the Spiffies' glasses and all of them walking around and bumping into stuff, pretending they're so dumb that they don't even know where they're going. However, Adam and the Spiffies get found out as being smart and are cornered by the rest of the CDMS-student body. Adam points out that it's not a bad thing to be smart, and starts pointing out lots of other kids at the school who're smart, until only Henry Armadillo is left. The episode ends on the next Report Card Day at Charles Darwin Middle School, and Adam finds out that he got straight unicorns on his report card. Principal Pixiefrog explains that they went to back to the generic positive symbols as grades (someone had threatened to file a lawsuit), but with new symbols as well. Characters Major Roles *Adam Lyon *Jake Spidermonkey *Principal Pixiefrog *Phineas Porpoise *Marvin Hammy *Aloysius Elephant *Daniel Calamari *Nestor Parrot *Henry Armadillo Minor Roles *Slips Python *Windsor Gorilla *Lupe Toucan *Ingrid Giraffe *Principal Pixiefrog *Mrs. Warthog *Mr. Hornbill *Miss Chameleon *Coach Gills *Coach Horace Ferret *Bull Sharkowski *Punky Lions *Dickie Sugarjumper Production Music * Bush Trail (B) – Sam Sklair (title card) * Hollywood Holiday – Frank Samuels (opening) * Heart of the Forest – William Farran (the report card is all symbols) * In A Bossa Mood – Gordon Rees (Principal Pixiefrog explains) * Soft Winds – Jack Arel, Pierre Dutour (“What a joke!”) * Lullaby Box – Leo Nissim (everyone is sleeping through their classes) * Satin Sounds – Dick Walter (in Principal Pixiefrog’s office) * Via Vanilla – Armando Trovajoli (in Mr. Hornbill’s class) * The Evil #43 – Gregor Narholz (the school in chaos) * Musique Concrete and Electronique 3 – Camille Sauvage (“A spy!”) * Future of Industry – Jack Trombey (“I smell pocket protectors!”) * Musique Concrete and Electronique 3 – Camille Sauvage (“Hey, who are those idiots?”) * Trip to Trinidad – Gil Flat, Frank Syman (Adam and the Spiffies are cornered) * Lost John (A) – Stephen Wade, Saul Broudy, Jerry Burnham (“You win this time, Adam Lyon!”) * Hollywood Holiday – Frank Samuels (The Next Semester) Quotes :Pixiefrog: Achtung studenten! I, uh, I mean, uh, attention students. ---- :Windsor: Did you fellas get the grades you expected? :Jake: I got straight rainbows, though I was hoping for at least one unicorn. :Windsor: Um, I don't think those even exist. :Jake: Well a boy can dream, can't she? ---- :Pixiefrog: Mr. Lyon, letter grades don't really work at our school. Students here, learns real good without 'em. :Jake: Rainbows make me feel happy. :Pixiefrog: We found that generically positive symbols word just fine. :Adam: And they help you avoid lawsuits. :Pixiefrog: Ding ding. See, you are learning, Mr. Lyon, and you don't need letter grades to tell. (Hopped away to the other hallway) :Adam: ''(In frustration) What a joke! ---- :'Windsor:' It's just a sad fact of the modern educational system, that self-esteem now takes presidency over actual learning. :'Jake:' Me don't see what big deal is. :'Slips:' Yeah, us is learning. ---- :'Adam:' I'm just not motivated to learn without the constant fear of failing grades hanging over my head. :'Pixiefrog:' Your what's hanging over where now? ---- :'Henry:' Smart kids, identimify yourselves, and maybe we'll go easy on y'all. :'Crowd:' YEAH! :'Adam:' Well, Windsor's the smartest guy I've ever known. :crowd shuns Windsor into the smart kid circle'' :Windsor: Thanks a lot, Adam, though I assume this is all part of some ingenious plan that you'd hit upon to outsmart the dum dums. :Adam: Lupe is super smart. She speaks two languages. :Lupe: I speak three. :is knocked out of flight and sent into the smart kid circle :Lupe: AAAAAH! the floor Oh, obre moi. :Adam: Ingrid can name all the types of Acacia trees. :Offscreen Student: TIMBER! :falls over and lands in the smart kid circle :Adam: And Bull known all 97 methods of bullying. :Bull: 98, actually. (Came in total shock, and grew nervous) :Adam: And Dickie known a lot of fancy dance steps. :Dickie: Indeed, I do. (dances into the smart kid circle) ---- :Adam: Sorry Henry, I guess knowledge is power. :Everyone: 'YEAH! :'Henry: (Retreating from the scene in a temporary setback) ''You win this time, Adam Lyon! But this ain't over yet! One day the bumpkins will rule the world! Or not. ''(Henry hopped away from the screen). ----'''-----THE FOLLOWING SEMESTER-----''' :Adam: I got... (Pulls out the report card to see his new grades) '''STRAIGHT UNICORNS!?' :'Jake: (about unicorns) See Windsor? They do exist. :'''Pixiefrog: That's right. After your little rabble rousing and subsequent mere annihilation of the school, we decided to go back to the old system, but with fun new symbols. :Adam: Someone threatened to sue, didn't they? :Pixiefrog: Ding, ding. See? You don't need letter grades to prove it. You are learning, Mr. Lyon. :Jake and Slips: We all is! Trivia *The title if this episode seems to derive from the 1984 film of the same name. *It's revealed Lupe Toucan is actually fluent in French, added to Spanish and English. Coincidentally, it's also learned that Principal Pixiefrog is fluent in German. **Principal Pixiefrog's German phrase "Achtung Studenten!" translates to "Attention Students!" "Studenten," however, commonly refers to college students. The correct translation would be 'Achtung Schüler!' ** Lupe's French phrase "Obre Moi" translates to "Shadow of Me". *Since Henry was the only student left standing after Adam points out all of the smart kids at CDMS, it can be assumed that he's the dumbest student at the school. Gallery Dumb Kids Turning on Smart Kids.png The Smart Kids Turn on Henry.png Category:Episodes Category:Season 2 Category:Adam Episodes Category:Henry Episodes